TheVoiceOfJoyce KFF Morning Briefing with good news for Vets needing prosthetics. bad news Trump makes it easier to fire Federal employees at HHS. RFK, Jr only interested in autism and vaccines, a debunked myth. Ignore RFK,Jr and read the KFF Morning Briefing and This week in Virology with Dr Daniel Griffin. Stay aware of health news. There’s a fly larvae eating cattle and it might spread with our warmer climate. Meanwhile, beef prices increase. Medical coverage unattainable to many and the true impact of cost rises hit after the Midterms. SNAP AND CHILD SCHOOL LUNCHES already cut. Immigrants can’t get healthcare. There is good news out there. Scientists continue progress on cancer therapies and early detection.

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Morning Briefing 

In This Edition:

From KFF Health News:

KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES1. RFK Jr. Seeks To Peek at Americans’ Medical Records for Clues on Autism and Vaccines To collect and scrutinize millions of Americans’ health data, U.S. health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. aims to work with state organizations that help health systems share medical records. In Nebraska, millions in federal dollars has flowed into one nonprofit cooperating with Kennedy’s project. (Amanda Seitz and Darius Tahir, 6/4) 2. Louisiana’s Reporting Law Chills Immigrant Medicaid Applications A year after the measure’s passage, a state law is keeping immigrants and their children from accessing Medicaid even when they qualify. (Halle Parker, Verite News, 6/4) 3. Listen to the Latest ‘KFF Health News Minute’ The “KFF Health News Minute” brings original health care and health policy reporting from our newsroom to the airwaves each week. (6/4)

Summaries Of The News:

ADMINISTRATION NEWS4. Trump Makes It Easier To Fire Some Top Federal Workers, Including Those At HHS 

Wednesday’s executive order turns about 8,000 federal workers into at-will employees, NPR reported, which allows the government to fire them without giving a reason. Nearly all of those affected are at the GS-15 level, the highest possible pay grade that includes high-level policy staff. In other administration news: The VA has changed how it buys prosthetic limbs, which could speed their delivery to veterans.

NPR: Trump Strips Job Protections From 8,000 Federal Workers President Trump has issued an executive order turning an estimated 8,000 federal workers into at-will employees, which means the government could fire them without providing any reason. … Nearly all of the 8,000 people affected are at the highest level of the civil service, known as GS-15. The Trump administration characterizes the roles as senior positions with significant influence over policy. (Hsu, 6/3)

Newsweek: VA Benefits Change Impacts Thousands Of Veterans Expecting Prosthetic Limbs The Department of Veterans Affairs has overhauled how it purchases prosthetic limbs, a shift that immediately speeds up delivery for thousands of veterans nationwide. The change matters because prosthetic orders have long been slowed by layers of procurement rules that added weeks to wait times for veterans who rely on these devices for mobility, independence, and recovery. The new policy removes most contracting reviews, affecting the vast majority of prosthetic limb orders and setting up a steep drop in average delivery times in the months ahead. (Castro, 6/3)

The Washington Post: Inside The Trump-Backed Push To Bring AI Doctors Into American Medicine The administration is laying the groundwork for chatbots that can diagnose illness and prescribe medicine, but physicians say AI can introduce more problems. (Dwoskin, 6/4)

RFK Jr. and the MAHA movement —

KFF Health News: RFK Jr. Seeks To Peek At Americans’ Medical Records For Clues On Autism And Vaccines U.S. health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is pursuing federal government access to most Americans’ medical records, in a quest to research a link between vaccines and autism — a connection the medical establishment studied for decades and flatly rejects. The Department of Health and Human Services is seeking data from little-known state systems that allow hospitals and clinics to exchange detailed, identifiable patient information, KFF Health News has learned. (Seitz and Tahir, 6/4)

AP: MAHA Candidate Zach Lahn Wins Republican Primary For Iowa Governor Businessman Zach Lahn’s win in Iowa’s Republican gubernatorial primary over President Donald Trump’s pick, Rep. Randy Feenstra, delivered a rare electoral setback for Trump in a primary season that had handed him back-to-back victories. The narrow upset Tuesday revealed cracks in Trump’s coalition in the red state that helped the president mount his comeback, encouraging Democrats who are hopeful they can flip control of the governor’s office this year. It also marked a potential breakthrough moment for the Make America Healthy Again movement, which has clashed with the Trump administration over its embrace of pesticides and backed Lahn’s message in favor of regenerative farming and against large agricultural corporations. (Fingerhut and Swenson, 6/3)

Stat: Top Ultra-Processed Food Researchers Call For Sweeping Policy Change: ‘The System Is Rigged’ A special edition of the American Journal of Public Health features ultra-processed food experts who want MAHA priorities turned into government policy. (Todd, 6/3)

Also —

CNN: Trump Says He Will Nominate Todd Blanche To Be Attorney General  President Donald Trump announced at a private dinner at the White House Wednesday night he will nominate Todd Blanche to be attorney general. When Trump makes the nomination official, it will end Blanche’s two months serving in the role in an acting capacity since his predecessor, Pam Bondi, was fired. Since then, Blanche, Trump’s firebrand former personal attorney, has taken great pains to prove to the president that he is up for the job. (Holmes and Rabinowitz, 6/4)

The Washington Post: Trump Took A Hair-Loss Drug For Years. It’s No Longer On His Medical Records.  President Donald Trump’s medical reports no longer include a common hair-loss prevention drug that his physicians said he routinely used during his first term in office. Finasteride — also known by the brand name Propecia — is used by millions of American men to prevent male-pattern hair loss. Three of Trump’s past physicians have said that he used the drug before and during his first term as president. (Diamond, 6/4)

HEALTHCARE COSTS5. 1 In 5 Privately Insured Americans Have Encountered Coverage Denial In The Past Year, Survey Shows 

The 2025 Affordability Survey released by the Commonwealth Fund shows that 63% of those who experienced a prior authorization denial said that it caused significant worry or anxiety, while 41% said it led to delays in care for them or someone in their household, Fierce Healthcare reported.

Fierce Healthcare: 21% Of Adults Experienced A Coverage Denial In The Past Year One in five adults with private insurance coverage said that they or a family member had a medical service denied in the past year, even though it was recommended by their physician. The Commonwealth Fund released its 2025 Affordability Survey and the results of focus groups on the subject, which found that 8% of coverage denials were due to denied claims, while 13% were due to prior authorization denials. One percent of the denied services fell into both categories, per the report. (Minemyer, 6/4)

Presbyterian Healthcare Services will cut most of its MA plans next year —

Modern Healthcare: Presbyterian Healthcare Services Drops Medicare Advantage Plans Presbyterian Healthcare Services will discontinue most Medicare Advantage plans next year, the health system said Wednesday. Presbyterian Health Plan, the Albuquerque, New Mexico-based nonprofit provider’s insurance arm, will retain only its Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans, or D-SNPs. The company will lay off about 150 workers. The insurer had about 54,000 Medicare Advantage members through May, nearly 14,000 of whom were enrolled in D-SNPs, according to Modern Healthcare Data & Insights. Presbyterian Health Plan also offers Medicaid, employer and individual plans in New Mexico. (Tong, 6/3)

Also —

NPR: Strict Medicaid Work Rules Could Harm People With Serious Illnesses, Advocates Say Advocates for people with serious illnesses, like cancer and HIV, say the strict Medicaid work rules that the Trump administration released this week are likely to put ongoing treatments in jeopardy. States must put the work requirements into effect by January 1. That was already a tight timeline, says Adrianna McIntyre, assistant professor of health policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. (Simmons-Duffin, 6/3)

The Hill: Conservative Think Tank Alleges Widespread ObamaCare Enrollment Fraud An influential conservative think tank contends that a quarter of all ObamaCare exchange enrollments were improper, adding more fuel to claims from the Trump administration and GOP lawmakers that the exchanges are rife with fraud. The Paragon Health Institute’s report found more than 6 million people were improperly enrolled in the health law’s exchanges in 2026. The report also argued taxpayers will improperly subsidize the Affordable Care Act program by nearly $25 billion. (Weixel, 6/3)

KFF Health News: Louisiana’s Reporting Law Chills Immigrant Medicaid Applications Yolibeth’s 4-year-old daughter scrambled headfirst onto a cushy leather love seat at their home near New Orleans and pushed a hairbrush into the hands of Miriam Romero, a health coordinator who works with the family. Romero placed the girl in her lap and started brushing her dark hair. Yolibeth, a 38-year-old single mother who moved to South Louisiana from Honduras 15 years ago, watched them, smiling. The daughter is the youngest of five children living in this mixed-status household. Yolibeth and her two oldest kids don’t have legal immigration status, but the other three — ages 4, 9, and 13 — were born in the U.S. and are citizens. (Parker, 6/4)

KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest ‘KFF Health News Minute’ Arielle Zionts reads the week’s news: For some older adults, the risks of certain preventive screenings might outweigh the rewards. Plus, cost spikes for Obamacare plans have consumers seeking cheaper health coverage, which is often less comprehensive. (6/4)

PUBLIC HEALTH6. Simple Urine Test Correctly Identified 9 In 10 Kids With Autism, Researchers Find 

The test, which did not misidentify any children without autism, measures the concentration of chemicals released by gut bacteria. The study indicates that children with autism showed elevated levels of those metabolites, HealthDay reports. Other public health and wellness news is on male puberty, dementia risks, the benefits of strength training, and more.

HealthDay: Urine Test Can Detect Autism, Study Says A simple urine test might help identify children who are likely to have autism earlier than the best assessment tools now available, a new study says. Autistic children appear to have specific gut microbe profiles that can be used to distinguish them from neurotypical (or typically developing) children, researchers reported May 26 in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. A urine test based on these profiles correctly identified 90% of autistic children and did not misidentify any children without autism, researchers found. (Thompson, 6/3)

Men’s health —

MedPage Today: FDA OKs Inflatable Penile Prosthesis For Erectile Dysfunction The FDA approved the Titan Prime inflatable penile prosthesis for men with erectile dysfunction, Coloplast announced on Wednesday. This prosthesis is indicated for men who are considered to be candidates for implantation of a penile prosthesis, and is “designed to emulate the appearance and performance of a natural erection, supporting device performance for patients, surgeons, and partners,” the company said. (Bassett, 6/3)

Stat: Male Puberty Is Understudied — But When It Starts May Predict Long-Term Health Risks Researchers say puberty timing may predict men’s risk of heart disease, diabetes, depression, and may even explain shorter male lifespans. (DeLuca, 6/4)

Lifestyle and wellness —

HealthDay: High-Puff Vapes May Grow More Toxic With Extended Use, Study Finds E-cigarettes that offer a lot of extra puffs might become more toxic the longer they are used, a new study says. High-puff vapes can typically deliver into the thousands of inhalations before they run out, because they hold more e-liquid and are designed for extended use, researchers said. But toxic chemicals called aldehydes start building up in the e-liquid as it is repeatedly exposed to vapor-producing heat, researchers reported May 28 in the journal ACS Omega. (Thompson, 6/3)

CIDRAP: Traveling For Cosmetic Procedures Can Lead To Complications Traveling in United States or to another county to undergo surgery has become increasingly popular. A study published yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases found that medical tourism for a cosmetic procedure increased the risk of postsurgical complications such as infections. While it’s unclear how many people travel for cosmetic surgery currently, medial tourism is expected to increase, the study noted. Many people choose to undergo procedures in different states or countries because they’re hoping for shorter waits and less-expensive procedures. (Holohan, 6/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Adding To The List Of Dementia Risks: A Diet High In Ultraprocessed Foods Eating a diet high in ultraprocessed foods is associated with an increased risk of dementia, according to new research, adding to the growing list of health problems linked to foods such as packaged cookies, hot dogs and chips. In a study published Wednesday in the American Journal of Public Health, the group of people who reported eating the highest amount of ultraprocessed foods had a 58% higher risk of later developing dementia and a 46% increased risk of developing cognitive impairment than those who said they ate the least. (Petersen, 6/3)

HealthDay: Just 90 Minutes Of Strength Training A Week Linked To Longer Life In a study recently published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, researchers followed more than 147,000 adults for up to 30 years, tracking how much time they spent doing strength training and aerobic exercise. Strength training ranged from lifting weights to exercises like push-ups, squats and lunges. People who did 90 to 119 minutes of strength training each week had a 13% lower risk of premature death from any cause, according to the results. That amount of weekly strength training was also linked to a 19% lower risk of dying from heart disease and a 27% lower risk of dying from neurological or brain diseases. (6/3)

Also —

NPR: Technology Helps Some Students With Disabilities Excel. Now It’s Leaving Schools Ninth grader Soraya Martin is a bubbly, social teenager who recently found a new passion. “I’m a very creative writer, I love to write stories for fun,” she says. Stories come naturally to Soraya, but reading and writing don’t. That’s because she has dyslexia. “Academically, school has always been a really big challenge for me.” Then last school year, she started using technology that allows her to do a number of things: dictate her writing rather than type, listen to books rather than read them on a page and take photos of notes on the board. (Mehta, 6/4)

STATE WATCH7. Feds Have Re-Separated Dozens Of Children From Families During Immigration Crackdown: Report 

An AP investigation found that the government has again separated dozens of the same children from their families, eight years after a landmark legal settlement meant to keep families together officially put a end to the forcible separations. “These children have suffered enough without re-traumatizing them,” said Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union.

AP: AP Finds Dozens Of Kids Separated Under Trump Faced Separation Again Some of their parents have been locked in immigration detention facilities for months, others deported back to their home countries after being taken from their families once again. In some cases, immigration officials conducting interior arrests deported people despite discovering they were legally off limits for removal, according to emails obtained by AP. (Burke and Pérez D., 6/4)

The New York Times: Louisiana ICE Facility Mistreated Immigrants, Federal Investigators Say A report by the Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog described officers putting one man in a chokehold and stabbing another with a pen. (Aleaziz and Nehamas, 6/3)

The New York Times: New Jersey Gov. Sherrill Says Immigration Officials Won’t Let Her Visit Detention Center  Gov. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey said Wednesday that federal immigration officials were continuing to bar her from entering a detention center in Newark, raising “serious questions about what is happening behind its walls.” Ms. Sherrill noted that she had met Tuesday evening with relatives of migrants being held at the Delaney Hall detention center, which has become a focal point of protest against President Trump’s immigration crackdown. She said that the relatives had shared “heartbreaking reports of unsafe, inhumane and unconstitutional conditions” inside the 1,000-bed jail. (Tully, 6/3)

In other health news from California, Virginia, Arizona, and Nevada —

San Francisco Chronicle: Why Google Wants To Release 32 Million Mosquitoes In California Google is seeking permission from federal regulators to release up to 32 million sterile mosquitoes in California — a pest control technique meant to quell the spread of an invasive mosquito species that’s been expanding to many parts of the state, including the Bay Area. The Mountain View tech giant has requested a permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to initiate a project that would release up to 16 million mosquitoes in California in the first year of the project and another 16 million in the second year, according to a notice published May 6 in the Federal Register. The proposal appears to be part of Google’s “Debug Project,” a group of scientists and engineers working to eliminate disease-carrying mosquitoes, according to the company’s website. Debug did not respond to questions from the Chronicle. (Ho, 6/3)

Cardinal News: Background Checks For Private Firearm Sales Will Stop Again, Lynchburg Judge Rules  After seven months of conducting no background checks for private firearm sales, followed by one week of checks, Virginia State Police have again halted the checks after a Lynchburg judge stepped in Wednesday. (Malinak and Beyer, 6/4)

The New York Times: Arizona, Nevada Agree To Trade For Desalinated Pacific Ocean Water  San Diego could sell some of its rights to Colorado River water to Arizona and Nevada under a deal struck Wednesday that could help parched inland states fill a widening gap between water supply and demand. (Dance, 6/3)

OUTBREAKS AND HEALTH THREATS8. Flesh-Eating Fly Larvae Found In US Cattle For First Time Since 1960s 

The New World screwworm fly’s larvae feed on the tissue of livestock, wildlife, and pets. A case has been confirmed in a 3-week-old calf in La Pryor, Texas, The New York Times reported. Plus: updates on Ebola, brucellosis, hantavirus, and covid.

The New York Times: Flesh-Eating Pest Confirmed In U.S. Cattle  The New World screwworm — a fly whose larvae feed on the tissue of livestock, wildlife and pets — has been detected in a 3-week-old calf in La Pryor, Texas, the Agriculture Department confirmed on Wednesday night. It is the first case found in cattle in the United States since the insect was eradicated from the country in the 1960s. “We are taking immediate action this afternoon and evening already to deploy, to contain and to eradicate this case of the New World screwworm in South Texas,” Brooke Rollins, the agriculture secretary, said at a news conference. If more screwworms are found beyond the single case, the infections, which can kill if left untreated, could devastate the American cattle industry. (Draper, 6/3)

The latest about the Ebola outbreak —

The New York Times: As Ebola Outbreak Widens, Trump Has Yet To Outline A Plan  Even as the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo appears poised to become the largest on record, Trump administration officials have not articulated a clear plan for caring for Americans at risk of the disease. Hundreds of Americans, including federal officials, aid workers and journalists, are expected to be in parts of Congo, where the disease is rampant, in the coming months. … The United States does not have the authority to quarantine Americans elsewhere in the world, and cannot prevent them from re-entering the country. (Mandavilli, 6/3)

CIDRAP: WHO Chief Says Response Is ‘Catching Up’ To Ebola Outbreak After visiting health officials and frontline responders in the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak in recent days, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said today that, despite numerous challenges, he feels hopeful about stopping the outbreak. In a press briefing, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanam Ghebreyesus, PhD, said there have been 344 confirmed Ebola cases and 60 confirmed deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where the outbreak began, along with 15 confirmed cases and one death in neighboring Uganda. (Dall, 6/3)

AP: As Ebola Surges In Congo, Women Face The Greatest Risks As Caregivers Every day for the past week, Aline Kasiwa has fed her sick mother, helped her drink and washed her clothes, all while fearing she could catch the Ebola virus as eastern Congo is plagued by one of the fastest-spreadi

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